"It will just take a little while longer to get things set up for the second portion of your special afternoon, so Mr. Sterling instructed me to set you up with a lovely lunch in our hotel restaurant", Grace said. 

  "That sounds wonderful. Thank you!" I said excitedly. 

  She led me to a quiet table in the back set up with a bottle of wine and flowers. I was given a menu and was told to pick whatever I like, don't worry about the expense. I had a fabulous and leisurely lunch. Before I knew it though, it was done and Grace came back to collect me. We went upstairs to not my hotel room, as I had originally thought, but the penthouse suite room. A young woman came to me and said he had the a massage table set up for my massage. I cheered. Then I collected myself and went in the bathroom to prep myself for the massage. When I came out, she introduced herself. "My name is Robyn. Please just tell me what you feel comfortable with and I will then start the massage." I smiled and told her what I wanted and then a quick but very relaxing hour passed.

  As Robyn was packing up, a pleasant looking young woman entered the room and was setting up a bunch of hair supplies on a table in the room. "Hello Hope! My name is Deana. I been brought here to do your hair. I can cut it for you or just style it, whatever you prefer," she said.

  I was taken back by all of this. When I heard that Kaleb had planned some surprise, I didn't realize that he went all out like this. I was speechless for a few moments before responding, "Uh, I need to look up some hairstyles. I wasn't expecting all this." 

  "That's ok. I have my tablet set up with some of my most popular hairstyles of my clients and feel free to look at it and tell me what you want." 

  I was reluctant at first to get a haircut. Then I was thinking that I wasn't really Hope, so it wasn't a big risk to go all out and get a haircut. It was obvious from looking at the photos on the hairdresser's tablet, that she was really talented. I found a cute shoulder length blunt cut with layers and agreed to some red highlights. I was whisked away to a huge and gorgeous bathroom to get my hair washed and before I knew it, I was sitting in a chair getting my hair highlighted. About 2 hours later, I was finally able to look at the results and was amazed and happy at what I saw. I loved my new style. It made me look very sophisticated and more attractive. Not too long after Deana got up to pack up her stuff, another woman came over to me and told me she was doing my makeup today. 

  "Hello, I'm Vanessa. Please let me know what kind of makeup you'd like today." I felt like a princess with all this special treatment. Again, I was looking at a tablet to get ideas for what kind of look I wanted. When all was done, I looked in the mirror and could hardly believe what I saw. With the new hairdo and pretty makeup, I looked very glamorous. I wasn't only feeling like a princess, but kind of looking like one too. Yet another person came in. This was a middle aged man. 

  "Hello. I'm Reed. I'm a personal shopper who works with the Jenson Department Store. I brought over some of our most popular looks for a night out on the town." 

  "This is terrific. It's my very own fashion show." I said beaming.

  "That is certainly is. I have the rack over here. Find something you want to try on and then come out and model it."  I noticed a pretty strapless navy and beige dress. It was knee length and had a flowy type of bottom and a corset type of bodice. I came out and looked in the mirror. I was thinking back to my shopping day with Esme. It looked gorgeous on me, but it was the type of dress, I normally wouldn't wear. It was too eye catching and sexy and showed off too much of my body. I felt that way about the other dress too, but this was even more out of my comfort zone. So I reluctantly came out to model the dress. 

  "You look beautiful. I notice though you don't seem too sure about this dress." he asked.

  I nodded shyly. "It's a gorgeous dress, but I don't know if it's me." 

  "I think you look perfect in this dress, but try on some others. Maybe there is something that you feel suits you better."

  I picked a black dress that had cold shoulders, sleeves and a gold belt and was also knee length. The top definitely had a bit more coverage than the first dress. I modeled it and was happy with the way it looked on me. 

  Reed smiled and said, "Also, another good choice, but not as stunning as the first choice in my opinion." 

  I had tried on two more dresses after that but neither of us were enthusiastic about them. I decided to try on one final dress before making a decision. This was a floral cap sleeve dress with pleating on the bodice. It was all made of a flowy material. I looked at myself in this dress and loved it. It was definitely more of a safe dress. I came out and modeled the dress. 

  "Wow you have a few good choices to pick from. Do you have any idea which one you will choose?" Reed enthused.

  "I don't know. What do you think?" I asked. I was trying to buy some time as I was debating on which way to go. I couldn't decide between the more conservative floral dress, the sexy corset dress or the compromise dress.

   "I think you can't go wrong with any of the three, but I would choose the corset dress. It's really a knockout on you." he said. 

    "I don't know." I fidgeted nervously. 

   "I definitely think the first one looked the best on you and really makes you stand out. But, I'm not sure if you want to stand out. Am I correct?"

  "Uh.." I said hesitating. " I mean, yeah I usually don't wear clothes like that." 

  "How many times do you get a personal hairstylist, makeup artist and stylist? You might as well take full advantage of this opportunity. I bet your guy will love it!"

  "Well..uh..ok. I'll go with the corset dress." I said reluctantly.

  "Great and to make you feel more comfortable, I have a nice little navy wrap to go with the dress." 

  "Sounds good." 

  "I also have some accessories that will really make this dress pop. I'll be right back. Go and put back on the first dress." 

  I went back to change into the first dress and Reed had all the accessories ready for me. Finally, I was all ready for my special night out. Kaleb was to come and collect me at this suite in about 15 minutes. I took advantage of that time to sit by the window and enjoy the gorgeous view outside. Finally, the doorbell rang and it was Kaleb. He smiled as he looked me up and down. "You look amazing." 

  "You didn't have to do all of this. It's too much." I said.

  "You enjoyed it though right? And you look amazing, so I think it was definitely worth it." I smiled and gave Kaleb a hug. "Ok, we need to go now to make our reservation on time." 

  "I can't wait," I said excitedly. We took the elevator down to the lobby and outside to a gorgeous white stretch limo. We took the short drive to a lovely restaurant. It was inside a Victorian style home. Inside in the foyer, was a beautiful old fashioned fireplace. There were some lovely antiques to decorate the mantle of the fireplace. And looking around inside, I saw more of the lovely antiques decorating the restaurant and spectacular old fashioned crystal chandeliers. The maitre d' came to the front to personally greet Kaleb. 

"Hello, Mr. Sterling.  I have your special table ready for you and your date. Please follow me." he said. A special table?  I thought. I was impressed. And I was also impressed by the fact that they seemed to know Kaleb very well, like he was some sort of special customer of the restaurant. I was also very surprised when the maitre d' took us upstairs.  I thought we were going to some secluded location in the back of the restaurant, not in a totally different spot. I noticed there were two doors when we got up the stairs. The maitre d' opened one of them and it was a small but lovely room with just one table. It also had another lovely chandelier and fireplace and some stunning paintings. The table was a elegant mahogany and looked like some sort of antique and had two mahogany chairs with comfortable green velvet cushions. 

  When the maitre d' left, I asked, "What's this? This is a private dining room?"

  "Why yes! The VIPs of this restaurant  have access to this room for a more intimate and quiet setting." he said. 

  "I'm impressed. This is amazing, Kaleb."

  "I'm so glad you are. You deserve all this and more." 

  "You made me feel really special today with all the pampering and all. You didn't have to do it though."

  "That's what you said before, but you deserve it. You're really special, but you deserve to feel like it from time to time too." 

  "I really do. Thank you so much."  A waiter came back with a wine menu and the food menus.

  "Do you mind if I pick out a wine for us to order?" he asked.

  "Sure. I tend to drink more white wines, but I'm open to a red too, if that is what you really want."

  "We can have a bottle of each," he said.

  "Are you sure?" I said.

  "Definitely!" So we ordered our wine and looked at the menus. I noticed the menus were just one page and had many courses on it.

  "Looks like we are missing some of the menu?" I asked unsure.

  "No, actually, I had the chef design this special menu for us tonight. It's an exclusive tasting menu he only offers to his VIPs and many of the selections are not even on the regular menu." 

  Secretly, I wondered if it was a little over the top and he was trying to impress me by showing how much money he had. But I admit, I was impressed and was enjoying all of this, so I forgot about that and just sat back and had fun.

  "I know this may be a bit much, but I know we won't have much more time to spend together and I wanted to make it very special for you, a night you'd never forget. I asked him more questions about his family. I know it was a sore subject when we first met, but I figured as we knew each other a little better, maybe he'd open up to me. I thought at the worst, he'd just say that he didn't feel comfortable talking about it and I'd leave it at that. I don't know if it was because we already drank a lot of wine or because he felt ready to open up to me, but he didn't hold back. 

  "So your parents have lived here for many years? How did they meet?"

  "My mother, Lisa, was a scholarship student who met my father at university. She was a farm girl, very naive and definitely from a different class than my father. She was shocked when he showed interest in her.  My father admitted that she wasn't the type of girl he normally dated but she was special and certainly worth getting to know better. So they had a wonderful relationship at the university, but when he brought her home to meet his parents, things didn't go as well."

  As he was telling the story, he needed to take a pause because the waiter brought out the first course. He stopped for a minute and when the waiter left, he continued.  "She wasn't the girl they were expecting my father to bring home. And my father kind of misled his parents about her. He did tell my mother about his family and helped her prepare for his parents. She wasn't good at lying and the nerves she was getting from the lying caused her to trip up in her answers and also at picking the wrong fork during dinner. My father and grandfather got in a fight. My father was angry at my grandfather for being so snobby because he didn't have much money to his name when he started the business as a young man and yet he was able to marry my mother, who was from a similar class as we were in now. My grandfather said he had to fight really hard to marry his mother because her father thought he wasn't good enough for her. He was a newly established businessman without the pedigree and experience to back him up. That wasn't the type of security his grandmother's father wanted for her. The story was getting very good but the waiter came again with the next course, so Kaleb had to take another pause. 

  So my father said to my grandfather. "Fine, if I have to fight for the love of my life, I'll do that. He had forgotten that his girlfriend was upset and told him she was going to take the taxi to the train. He hoped he could still catch her, but she had already left. He was very angry, so then he yelled at my grandmother for allowing Lisa to leave like that. My grandmother was impassive. She just calmly said that Lisa was very upset and it was better for her to leave and not be caught up in all this drama. My dad was furious and he said that he was leaving to go after Lisa. My grandfather was angry that he would even consider it. However, my mother was angry that my father let her leave like that and didn't defend her enough, in her opinion. By the time, he got back to the university, it was late and when he tried to call her room, her roommate just picked up and said that my mother went to sleep early. It took a few weeks before he could even get a hold of my mother and talk to her. When he finally did get a hold of her, she tried to convince him that it was better that she found out now that they were not suited and they should both move on. 

  "Wow, how did things change around?" I said.

  "It took a lot of time and convincing, but he finally did. He would give up his place in his father's company, if that is what it took to prove that he was serious. My grandfather said that if he was foolish enough to go ahead and marry my mother, he'd be cut off from his inheritance and his position in the company. My father had no idea if he was bluffing, but he wasn't about to back down. He said to him that it was fine, if he had to give up his inheritance and position in the company, he would do whatever it took to prove how much he loved my mother and wanted to be with her, no matter what it took."

  "How did your grandfather take that?" I said.

  "They came to a compromise. My father proved how far he was willing to take this by risking losing it all, including continuing his college edition at Yale. My grandfather couldn't have a son that didn't graduate from Yale, so he came up with a compromise. He could stay at Yale and not have to give up everything, if he would at least look into marrying someone else. My father didn't want to do that, but my mother talked him into it, because she didn't want him to lose everything because of him. My father said that it didn't matter because he was still marrying her. My mother understood, but she knew it would be easier for him to start a business on his own at least with a great college education and if he had to pretend to see some other women, as long as it REALLY was just pretend, she could go along with that. But my mother was smart. She had her own plan. She would do everything she could to make sure she would be a worthwhile wife for her future husband. She took a big risk by going to my grandmother and trying to convince her that if they cut him off for marrying her, they'd lose him forever. She added some guilt to that, stating that my grandmother wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let that happen. 

  "Was she able to convince your grandmother?"I asked.

  "Yes, it took a lot of convincing but she showed how much she loved her son and how serious she was about him and said that she would do whatever it took to show that she was a worthwhile wife for him. She asked my grandmother to teach her everything she needed to know to be the kind of wife they wanted for him. My grandmother didn't admit it at first, but she was impressed with the kind of gumption my mother had and how she was able to stand up to her. So she agreed to help my mom. My mom proved to be a brilliant student and they were able to convince my grandfather to let them marry. Yet, you'd think that my father would have learned from his grandfather. But like my grandfather didn't learn from his father, my father didn't learn from his either. He was also certain that he knew exactly what was right for me like his father and if what I wanted didn't fit into that mold, then it wasn't good enough. But enough about that for now. It's difficult to talk now and eat at the same time. We can continue later."

  I was wondering if I should push him to reveal more now, because maybe he had just said that to put me off from asking more. Maybe, he really wasn't planning on telling me more later. I decided we were having a great time and I didn't want to ruin things, so I let it drop.

  All the wine and all the courses were delicious. Each course was better than the last. I don't know how I made it through all nine courses. I think towards the end I just had a taste of some of the courses so I could at least attempt to try dessert. Before, I knew it, we got up and Kaleb took my hand to whisk me off to our next destination.